by Marlena Elias
July 22, 2000
Hopefully I can stop smiling long enough to share this joyous story from last weekend.
My keen female intuition had been twinkling for the past couple of weeks. Something was in the air with Jeanne and Jeff. Jeanne had an inkling, but couldn't believe anything more serious than the two of them living together was going to happen. However, Jeanne had made it perfectly clear to Jeff that she would not move in with him unless they were on their way to a permanent commitment.
Having said that, let me describe Jeff. Jeff is as goofy as I am. Jeff laughs at just about everything, he's very funny, and he smiles all the time. In addition to being handsome and smart, he has all of these other wonderful qualities. Jeanne, who has been my dearest friend for over 100 years, has always been a "list" person. She can't move without checking her "electronic brain", her Coach blotter, or any one of many "post it" notes. She's stopped writing lists. This was my first clue that Jeff was the one.
Jeanne is now an outside sales rep for Computer Associates and her life is complete chaos with traveling and learning a new job. Jeanne actually let Jeff write out her bills. If I could somehow describe the enormity of that last sentence, I would be describing the weight of the world times infinity. For as long as I have known Jeanne Marie Wolgamuth she has NEVER let anyone near her checkbook. So in the past 100 years of knowing Jeanne Marie she has done two uncharacteristic things: dropped her list writing and let some one near her checkbook. Every bell and whistle is going off in my head: He's the one! He's the one! He's the one!
This man has managed to free Jeanne from the "cooties" of the ghosts of previous relationships. To Jeff I say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for making Jeanne happy. Thank you for bringing so much love and joy to her life. Thank you for following your heart.
To Miss Jeanne Marie I must say, I love you. Jeanne and I have been experiencing some growing pains in our 100-year relationship. These pains concerned Jeanne, but allowed me to do some serious introspection. To Jeanne, I thank you for still being my friend. I thank you for not giving up on me and for still loving me even though I have not made much sense in the past month. You will always be my friend.
Getting back to the beginning of this story, Ethan and I had breakfast with Jeanne and Jeff last Sunday. Because my keen girly sense was working overtime I couldn't help but notice Jeanne kept hiding her left hand. Like I was born yesterday! The more she hid it, the more I KNEW these two had gotten engaged! So Jeff is telling a story, he and I are laughing for no apparent reason. Jeanne is trying like hell to not give away the fact she is wearing an engagement ring. Ethan, the love of my life, had no clue what was going on. I couldn't stop laughing. Jeff couldn't stop laughing. Jeanne couldn't stop hiding her left hand. If only I could somehow have given Ethan a tiny bit of girly intuition, he would have realized what was going on. Unfortunately, he felt like he was missing out on an inside joke.
So Jeanne shows me her hand and there on her ring finger of her left hand is a ring of proposal. OH MY GOD! I was so completely happy for Jeanne I thought I was going to spontaneously combust. I honestly never thought I would see the day that Jeanne would find a person whom she could love and trust. I simply can't stop smiling. <EM>
